After a few months hiatus...

After taking some blogging time off, I am back with some back to school posts coming up this weekend.

In case you are not a colleague in B.C. let me give you a quick run down of something that have been happening here in our neck of the woods....

After months of failed negotiations, teachers were taking minor job action which included not supervising at recess. The government then locked us out at recess/lunch/before/after school and deducted 10% of our wages. We moved to a provincial rotating strike, one day a week for each district, with multiple districts out at once. Things were not improving.

Finally, the last rotating strike was Friday, June 13 and the following Monday we started a full walk out. All schools shut down as of June 16 and were not back in session until this past Monday, September 22.

As a zone captain on the local executive, striking days meant that we met at the CTA office early in the morning to discuss issues, then we would drive around to our "zone" of schools (6-12 schools we visited daily)

Our district cancelled summer school and so we didn't have to picket over the summer, but many areas of B.C. did. As September drew closer, we hoped for a deal, especially when mediator Vince Ready got involved. But, with the parties "too far apart" he walked away and our hopes faded.

There were rallies put on by students, parents and the community, there were events hosted by BC Fed and other unions, there was support in the form of solidarity, money, and more from across Canada. It was truly a historic event.

When teachers voted 99% for binding arbitration, it sent a strong message that we wanted to get a deal, even if it meant going to binding arbitration. The government still disagreed but finally, there were some discussions again. After a promise to bargain 25/7 all summer, the government only met once with BCTF and this final push at least got both parties back at the table again.

Finally, last week, with Vince Ready back and some discussions between parties, they reached a deal.

The deal was not the deal teachers hoped for, but it had modest improvements in some areas and allowed us to get back to work, kids back to school and focus on the next issues were are trustee elections and our court case.

It was a tough time for many teachers, parents, students, community - but we go through it.

I feel like it was one battle in the bigger war. With a government like this, it feels like there are many more battles in this war and we need to stay united in our fight to stand up for quality public education. We can not allow have/have not privatization of education. We can not allow this government to break our union.

I did not blog the past few months because (mostly, I didn't have the time... but also...) there was so much going on on any given day with bargaining and job action and government moves - I didn't want this blog to become a political opinion blog (although that is part of who I am) but to stay focused on classroom ideas and such.

So, there are no guarantees I won't post more on this issue and any others that come.... but for now, we are back to school and I am ready to share some more classroom ideas!

Thanks

If you want some info on this check out some of these great posts:

http://thetyee.ca/News/2014/06/14/BC-Ed-Keeners/

http://thetyee.ca/News/2014/05/21/BC-Teacher-Bargaining/

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-teachers-rally-at-canada-place-1.2757616

http://www.news1130.com/2014/09/16/tentative-deal-reached-between-teachers-and-government/

Blog Post: Why I will vote 'yes' for escalating job action

There is a great blog post from a teacher called: Why I will vote 'yes' for escalating job action. I have pulled a few sections to share, but highly recommended you go read it in its entirety at the original source.

The post talks about the history of cuts to education from the BC Liberals and the roller coaster ride it has been.

But this time it’s different. Through social media, teachers have been able to dispel public apathy. We’ve been able to refute government talking points with a barrage of non-partisan statistics and historic facts, most of which can be pulled directly from the Supreme Court ruling. This time, we’ve finally got a chance to make things better instead of watching them get worse.

...

And now, the teachers have called a strike vote. 

The timing is tough. Teachers are weary by June. We are uncomfortable leaving the students with a bad feeling before summer break, and we’re tired of fighting –of losing pay to strike days, of having 10% cut from our salaries. Many teachers would rather not further anger parents. 

On the other hand, a strong ‘yes’ vote will show a cynical government that it can never defeat us. It will show the government that no matter what it does to us, we will stand up in solidarity. 

In this last, desperate battle before the judiciary lowers the boom, the government will throw all of its grenades, and things are likely to get ugly. Already rumours abound of a lockout for September, whether we strike or not. They want to punish us.

But for me there is no more fear. I don’t care what the government does to me any more. I have fought too long, and endured too much heartache to give up now. We are so close! If we hold rank we can win. We have the Charter and the Court of Law on our side. 

Read the entire post here: https://thecoalmine.wordpress.com/2014/06/06/why-i-will-vote-yes-for-escalating-job-action/

Letter: Here’s one teacher who earned every dime

There has been a lot of recent talk about our teachers, government and job action. I'd like to take a moment and talk about Jane Powell. 

She was my drama teacher from eighth grade until I graduated (with a brief respite while I was in 11th grade) and she passed away on Oct. 1. 

Like most people, I had a difficult time in school. With hormones controlling my every move, bullies in the hallways, less than stellar home life and an intense need to be lippy, poor Ms. Powell had to deal with the results of that equation.

All I wanted to do was play around and when I found out how easy it was to make people laugh, I felt that I had found my calling, but Ms. Powell had different ideas.

Very early in my drama studies she was quick to tamp down my eagerness to be a jackass.

I have never been a person to blindly accept authority and Ms. Powell, like all of my other teachers, had to deal with it on a daily basis. She, like the others, never gave up on me. 

I don't know what she or any other of my teachers were paid to deal with the rag-tag group that we were in school, but given the crass behaviour she was exposed to daily, it probably wasn't enough.

This was before teachers had to deal with students text messaging in class etc. (our text messages were hand- written notes passed around the room!).

When the B.C. Liberals gave themselves a pay raise a few years back, there was talk that “we need to attract the best and brightest.”

The best and brightest people in the world are not grown in petri dishes. They are challenged and taught by a specific group of professionals who dedicate their lives to their work.

Teachers.

"They get weekends, stats and summers off” is a common argument I've heard.

According to the Parliament of Canada website, last year our MLAs had 46 sitting days in parliament? (I am not going to give them credit for work they do outside of Victoria until we give credit to the work teachers do outside of the school.)

“It shouldn't be about money, if they really love their jobs,” is another common argument I've heard.

The same could be said about people choosing to run for public office.

JOEY JACK

Kamloops

SOURCE

Blog Staffroom Confidential: BC Teachers: Liability & the Lockout

Here is part of a blog post, I encourage you to go read in its entirety. Regarding WCB coverage, I find the debate interesting as there are several cases pre-job action or lock-out, in which teachers were NOT covered by WCB for extra curricular activities.

Here is the start of Staffroom Confidential's blog post:

The war of words between the BCTF and the BC Government, heated up this week as the government denied that their lockout prevented teachers from organizing and participating in extra-curricular events and blamed the BCTF for warning its members of potential liability.

The Victoria Times Colonist reported this morning:

Education Minister Peter Fassbender said he was against any disruption of extracurricular and volunteer opportunities.

“I think that’s a shame,” he said. “As I said at the beginning, I am concerned because this is now affecting students and their parents and the communities. Teachers have a choice to participate in extracurricular activities as they have previously.”

While the union said teachers should wait until there is confirmation from WorkSafe B.C. that they are on solid ground with extracurricular activity during the partial lockout, Fassbender said WorkSafe B.C. coverage for teachers will not be compromised.

“Any teacher that is at any activity that is sanctioned by a school district is absolutely covered by WorkSafe. There is no question of that."

( - See more at: http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/union-tells-teachers-to-stop-volunteering-cites-liability-concerns-1.1076148#sthash.BWAx6nAh.dpuf)

What are the facts we know?

The first claim, that teachers are covered by WCB (WorksafeBC), is almost certainly false. WCB has been issuing orders denying WCB coverage to teachers involved in extra-curricular activities for some time now. See, for example, this WCAT (the appeal body of the WCB) decision.

In it, the adjudicator determines that coverage is not provided because the activity was not "work" ....

Read More here

Today's debate at the legislative assembly - Oral Question on #BCED

You can also watch the QP here: Question Period


DEBATES OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY

(HANSARD)

---

HOUSE BLUES

MONDAY, MAY 26, 2014

Afternoon Sitting

Oral Questions

LOCKOUT IN TEACHERS' LABOUR DISPUTE

J. Horgan: Well, we've had 12 years of B.C. Liberal meddling in negotiations with teachers, with trustees, with support workers. We've had 12 years of confusion. You could call it a generational confusion, because the kids that were in grade 1 in 2002, when the then minister or the current Premier capriciously ripped out class size and class competition language from a collective bargaining agreement and then was told by the courts to renegotiate that position…. A whole generation of kids has gone from grade 1 to graduation this coming month with uncertainty and unease as a result of the actions of this government — not one Supreme Court ruling, but two.

My question is to the Minister of Education. He has said: "The class-size issue is an oxymoron as far as I'm concerned" — we can debate the grammar of that — "because all the research in the world says class size does not determine outcomes."

I would disagree with that and so would thousands of other scholars. But instead of trying to explain when he had time to read all the research in the world, my question is: did he have time to read the convoluted explanation as to why we're locking people out this week when we should be at the bargaining table negotiating a fair collective agreement?

Hon. P. Fassbender: I appreciate the question from the Leader of the Opposition. I will say this. I think if his facts weren't on an Etch a Sketch, when he flips it over and it disappears, then maybe he could stay on track. I'm going to try and help the Leader of the Opposition and the members opposite. I'm going to try and help you understand the reality of what we have done and what we are doing.

This government is committed to negotiated settlements. If you look at our track record, we have been working very hard with the public sector to find negotiated settlements — to work together with trade unions — that respect their rights and also respect the rights of taxpayers in an economic climate that requires some tough decisions.

But it is not this government that initiated this current round of dispute. It is the BCTF that started limited strike action. It is the BCTF that ramped it up this week to rotating walkouts throughout the province. This government, since June, since we were elected, was prepared to sit at the negotiating table every single day to find a negotiated settlement. We are still committed to doing that. We are prepared to meet around the clock, through the summer, to find a negotiated settlement that respects the rights of teachers, of students, of parents, of other labour unions in this province. That is our commitment. That is our goal, because long-term stability is what is important in our education system.

Madame Speaker: Recognizing the Leader of the Opposition on a supplemental.

J. Horgan: As tempting as it is to talk about mechanical bulls and by-products, I think I'll just try and focus in on the minister's comment about the track record of the B.C. Liberals — not one but two examples that went to the Supreme Court and found that the government had contravened the chartered rights of a group of citizens in British Columbia. Not once; twice.

What did they learn from that? They learned more provocation, more disruption, more confusion. Let's be clear. I love to do that. This is what we hear from the Vancouver District Parent Advisory Council: "Everybody is confused." That strikes me as not a transparent approach. It's a confusing approach.

Will there be graduation ceremonies? Will we be marking exams? It took five pages in a letter from the chief negotiator, and I'm still not clear. I wasn't reading all of the information in the world, but maybe I could ask the minister…. This is a comment from the Vancouver District PAC association. This is all the PACs in Vancouver.

Interjections.

J. Horgan: Oh, I know that the minister is really concerned about this, so keep your mechanical bull to yourself for a moment, and we'll focus on this: "Parents are more willing to adapt to a one-day schedule change than they are to accept the long-term damage the provincial government is inflicting on the public education system in this province." Long-term damage.

My question is, to the minister: could he try and interpret for the people of British Columbia just what Peter Cameron is doing with the people of this province, and most importantly, the kids that are not in classrooms because of your provocation?

Hon. P. Fassbender: I am more than prepared to ride the wave of misinformation that is coming from the members opposite about what our intent was and what it has been. It is very clear. Mr. Cameron last week clarified exactly why we had to take the steps we did in response to the decisions that were made by the teachers union moving forward. But I would ask the members opposite: where was your concern over a year ago when we had almost a year of limited strike action while we were trying to negotiate a settlement? Where was your concern then when that happened?

Where were the members across the way? Where was their concern a week ago when the BCTF was initiating strike action? Where was the concern then? All I can say, and I say this with all sincerity…. There are none of us that want to see disruption in students' lives, in the lives of their parents and their communities, in the lives of the teachers. We are clearly still at the table, willing to negotiate, asking for a response that is measured and appropriate for everyone in this province.

First and foremost, stability has been our goal. It'll continue to be our goal, and we'll continue to negotiate that.

J. Horgan: A 12-year record of destabilizing public education. A child who started in grade 1 in 2002 has had 12 years of confusion as the result of this government's policies.

Interjections.

Madame Speaker: Members. The Chair needs to hear the answer and the question.

J. Horgan: Thank you very much, hon. Chair.

My question is to the "Let's be clear" Minister of Education. You've been provoking disruptions in the education system for 12 years. The court has found twice — not once; twice — that you deliberately provoked action so that you could take more pieces of a collective agreement off the table.

What steps will the minister take to ensure that this last month of public education for those kids who were disrupted in 2002 by the then minister, the current Premier…? What steps are you going to do to make those next 30 days an enjoyable experience rather than a chaotic one that rests right at your feet?

Hon. P. Fassbender: I think the Leader of the Opposition, as I said, has selective memory when it comes to the facts.

The facts are Madame Speaker…. We've had a decade of unprecedented labour peace in this province. Another fact for the Leader of the Opposition: just last week or the week before last, we signed another tentative agreement with the HEU that was within the framework. That was a five-year agreement.

I do not believe that even the members of the opposition, who have children and grandchildren, don't want what we want on this side of the House. That is stability, a focus on learning outcomes, a focus on moving forward in transforming our education system to meet the future of this country and this province.

We have learning outcomes. We have learning outcomes that lead the world, that show that we are delivering results. Yes, Madame Speaker, it's absolutely through the hard work of the teachers, who also deserve a fair and negotiated settlement, not labour disruption initiated by their own union.

GOVERNMENT APPROACH TO
TEACHERS' COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

R. Fleming: It's déjà vu all over again, Madame Speaker, with these guys. This government has a unique ability to insult the province's teachers.

Last week the Premier said she would resolve bargaining by locking everyone in a room until they'd get a deal. Good. But then she look to the airwaves mere hours later and said teachers are only motivated by greed. She told a radio station that for teachers: "It's all about money. It's never about the quality of education."

Wow. I thought it was this government that wouldn't let bargaining talk about class size and composition issues on the table in this dispute. Can the Education Minister describe how the Premier insulting teachers and then locking kids out from their lunchtime activities and extracurricular activities can in any way help create…?

Interjections.

Madame Speaker: Members.

R. Fleming: Can the minister describe how the Premier's sum total of her statements on teachers last week in any way helps this week in getting us closer to a settlement to achieve trust and respect at the bargaining table so that our schools in British Columbia are stable and secure?

Hon. P. Fassbender: I appreciate that the critic for the opposition is again taking facts and twisting them to their purpose.

SOURCE

Letter of the Week: ‘I’m OK, Jack’ attitude to teachers is bad for our entire society

A long time ago I saw a large banner with the headline, “What we want for ourselves, we want for others.”

Those words froze me in a paralyzing cognitive dissonance.

No doubt, I wanted a lot for myself, but did I want the same for others? Categorically “no” was the answer that had me so tied up in my uncomfortable thoughts of greed and selfishness. Am I really a person that doesn’t want good things for others?

For me, this was a “coming to Jesus moment.” I soon realized that all my past griping about what others deserve or don’t deserve was carefully cloaked in my “screw you, I’m OK Jack” mentality. That attitude is built on fallacies like, “my dollar will go further if everyone else is broke.”

Studies show that we compare our incomes to our neighbours and not the millionaires who live in a gated community far from the struggling family of Joe and Jane Lunchbucket.

I’ve since matured and found good reasons to want my neighbours to do well but I didn’t have to change my selfish thinking! I realized that it serves my interests when my neighbours do well. When they are able to achieve the good life, I can expect less crime, more education (therefore I get better service where those kids are employed), that house values stay high due to my neighbours maintaining their property, more consumers with disposal income means a better economy so my children can be employed.

That said, when a millionaire hockey player does well, my benefits are few. I don’t live beside male millionaires who knock a rubber disc around with a piece of curved wood. However, a teacher is one of my neighbours. In addition to the reasons above, I benefit when teachers do well.

In reviewing what the teachers are asking for, I find that not only is it fair, but their interests are virtually identical to my interests as a parent — smaller class sizes, etc. It seems to me that this fight between our teacher-neighbours and Premier Christy Clark’s government is much bigger than my inconvenience in finding childcare during a strike. It is about our precious children getting a quality education, our neighbours having an opportunity for the good life and fairness for people who work hard.

I want the best, most talented people chasing education careers and so should you. If that means that millionaires have to pay slightly higher taxes, I’m OK with it.

Greg Engh, Mission

SOURCE

Letter from Colleague: I finally know for certain...

Great letter from a colleague of mine....

I finally know for certain what is most important to BCPSEA and this government when it comes to the education of students.

I am the first one to support extra curricular. I believe in these activities. I have participated in many both as a student and as a teacher.  They have been a source of joy and personal growth. However, I am saddened to hear that our government places more importance on them than on the education of students. According to the 2nd letter from BCPSEA, I can choose to run an extra curricular activity on school property when I am locked out but I can't do homework, mark, contact parents, plan lessons, work on IEPs or participate in Professional Development Activities on or off of school property.

I now see in black and white that it is more important for this government that teachers participate in activities which the public can view than to put in the five hours a night after school that many teachers do in order to prepare for the next day which is done in classrooms after school or at home between preparing meals, taking care of children,  tending to elderly parents, taking courses, volunteering in my community, trying to have some "me" time, staying physically and emotionally fit so that I can do my job etc...  let alone being a union activist.

I hope that parents and the public truly realize what this second lockout letter is saying about their child's education.  I put in long hours before and after the bell because I am dedicated to my students and the profession that I have loved for the past 34 years.

I realize that the government is using this as a tactic to divide teachers.  My suggestion... colleagues, join your hands tighter together and march on.  We deserve better and so do the students of British Columbia.

Charlene Hodgson

Teacher

Letter from BC Teacher to Christy Clark

Ok, Christy Clark, I’m going to need some help understanding this one.

Starting Monday, you will not let me help my students at recess and lunch? It is rare that a day goes by that I don’t have students in during that time who desperately need help. With all the cutbacks with student support and with no regard to my class composition and the needs of the students in my class, how will they learn if I can’t go over concepts with them during my break?

And if I do help them, I will be disciplined?

In fact, starting Monday, you insist that we all leave the school property at recess and lunch? Do you have any idea what happens in a school when that bell goes? You want the building to be free of teachers while hundreds of children are transitioning in the hallway? Have you considered the safety factor in that one? So I’m not allowed to use the washroom on my breaks? If I can’t leave my students during class, and I’m not allowed to be in the building during my breaks, are you suggesting that I must go the entire day without using the washroom?
Starting Monday, you’re also telling me that I am only allowed to work 45 minutes prior to the bell and 45 minutes after. I can’t take my work home, I can’t mark at home, I can’t do my report cards at home and I can’t prepare my lessons at home yet you still insist that I do all of these things? Does that mean you will be giving us money finally to buy resources so I don’t have to build all my units from scratch? For every hour in my class, I’m putting in an hour outside of it developing lessons, making resources, planning units and writing report cards. I have no idea how I am supposed to do all of that in 90 minutes a day outside of direct teaching time.

Perhaps you want me to do that while the students are in my class? I just can’t, Christy. I want them to learn.

Starting Monday, you will not let me help organize students into classes for next year? So if I know that a child is intimidated by another in my class, or does not work well with someone, I am not able to do anything about that? Have you been in a classroom? There’s a very fine art to separating children who simply are unable to get along, and yet another art to finding children to put together to build new friendships and find a sense of belonging. At my school alone, our teachers invested at least 15 hours last year fine tuning the classrooms, making sure we could make the best of our situation of kids with learning disabilities, with behaviour problems, with IEPs, with social difficulties. I know our school administrators are capable individuals, but they simply do not know how best to place my students, and are not aware of the specifics of the 11 students I have this year who have higher needs.

And, Christy, I’m absolutely crushed that you won’t let me go to my daughter’s grade 7 leaving ceremony at her school. I don’t even work at her school, but you refuse to let me on public school property. Funny thing is, the teacher that is spending countless hours organizing that ‘grad’ also has a child in that class, and she won’t be able to attend it either. I expect we will both be standing outside of school grounds trying to maintain composure. Right now, not that you care, I’m not maintaining composure. I didn’t very well in class today when I told my own grade 7s that I wasn’t allowed to attend their grade 7 leaving. They saw the tears in my eyes.

I know that you will tell me BC teachers started this strike business. We could argue about the logistics of that for quite some time. Do you realize that we chose rotating strikes so we could still volunteer our time on the other days of the week? We were still going on field trips, organizing grad ceremonies, doing extra-curricular, and giving whatever we could to the students in our schools. And now you won’t let us? I look forward to my year end activities with my students. I am not looking forward to telling them that you won’t let me take them.
Do I need a raise? Yes, I truly do. I believe I deserve the 18% you gave your administration, but I’d be happy with keeping up with the cost of living. 4 straight years of 0% is catching up with me. 2 more years of 0% just might break me. Everything is going up, and my paycheque is actually getting smaller. That just doesn’t seem right to me. I just don't understand why I don't deserve the cost of living.

Oh and as long as I’m trying to understand all of this, why is privatization so important to you?
You are starving education and healthcare. It seems your plan is to continue to do this so you can say to the public, “Look. The school system is not working! We need to do something different!” At that point, I expect you’ll push your two-tiered education system a little harder, and your next course of business will be a two-tiered health care system. That might work well for you and your well-paid staff, but not for the majority of us. What will most of us do in a two-tiered health care system? Do you just not care because it just does not affect you?

By the way, we DO need to do something different; we need you to start funding education again. I was thinking that in my children’s neighbourhood high school, if you funded just to the national average, they would have $1 000 000 more each year. My own children and I had fun mentally spending that for their school. It was kind of like going through the Sears Wishbook when we were kids, but, like the Wishbook, when someone else is holding the chequebook, it’s all just a dream.

By the way, why is your chequebook out for the private school system? I’m a little confused why you were able to increase funding for those schools but not public schools. Is that because your son attends a private school?

On your Facebook page, you recently said that you are “acknowledging historical wrongs,” but do you realize you’re creating one right now? And you’re right, we can’t undo the past. Take some time to do some research in what investing in our children now will do for our future. And look into what happens if we don’t. It will cost us all a great deal more in the generations to come. I also know you are aware that BC has the highest child poverty rate in Canada, and yet you still have no plan for those children either. All of this is so incomprehensible to me.

You broke the law. Twice. You’ve been told that your tactics with BC Teachers are unconstitutional. To me, that’s not much different than your predecessor who thought it okay to drink and drive and that saying sorry made it all better.

I have so many more questions, Christy, but I expect you’ve long stopped reading. Just on another note, I have to tell you that my 16 year old said to me today that he thought maybe people had to be hurt in some way to be able to really empathize with others. How profound. On that wisdom, I assume you’ve had a brilliant life, as you have no empathy for those you perceive to be below you. I wish all of our citizens of BC could have the same opportunity.

I have never been afraid of a politician before, Christy, but I am afraid of you. I love my province. I’m proud of my province. But I’m afraid there won’t be much left of it when you’re done.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Letter+from+teacher+Christy+Clark+goes+viral/9876692/story.html#ixzz32rVzoVUS

A Surrey Teacher's poem - I will always be a teacher

Michelle Mirabueno, a Grade 1 teacher at Woodland Park Elementary in Surrey, wrote this poem in response to the news of ‪#‎ChristyClarksLockout‬

I will always be a teacher

You may try and cut our wages
Threaten, bully and scare
Without stepping in our classrooms
To see why we fight and care

I will still teach all my students
I love the job I do
I teach my children to stand up for themselves
When they cross paths with bullies like you

We will not back down in defeat
We will not let this go
You make a mockery of what we do
Turning it into a media show

My classroom is not for sale
I will not sell out the children's needs
For every child is worth the fight
Despite the trouble this may lead

I wish you had the teachers
Who would have fought for your needs too
Because somewhere down the line
A teacher helped you become you

I will always be a teacher
I will always fight the fight
To ensure the children of our world
Can learn what's wrong from right

So when they grow and make a choice
Of what they'd like to do
Surely one of them will have more integrity
To do the job in place of you

Excellent Letter from a 'very very annoyed parent'

From Kristina Barnett Lee

The Honorable Peter Fassbender, Min Ed
The Honorable Christy Clark, Premier
Mr Douglas Horne, MLA Coquitlam-Burke Mountain

Dear Sirs and Madam,

I write today to convey my extreme disgust with the manner in which the education system is being treated by your government. The conduct you have displayed with regards to the future of our children’s education is reprehensible. You claim to put “Families First” and to hold the needs of the children above all else, and yet there are children in our system who have challenges and special needs who are being lost because you won’t fund the help that they so desperately need. Your condescension toward teachers is easily traceable back to 2002 when, as Education Minister, Premier Clark removed the teacher’s right to bargain about learning and working conditions by enacting Bills 27 and 28 - action which has since been deemed by the Supreme Court of BC to have been a violation of Charter rights. Undaunted by the illegality of your position, your government enacted Bill 22, once again removing class composition, amongst other things, as an issue about which teachers have any say. Your government is clearly hoping that we are stupid enough to have forgotten that only 3 months ago Madam Justice Susan Griffin ruled that Bill 22 was also unconstitutional, found you guilty of bargaining in bad faith, and accused you of attempting to provoke a strike for political gain. Clearly the children are merely pawns in your political game of chess, and I am nauseated by the cynicism and Machiavellian ideals permeating your caucus.

When a government requires a School District to submit a balanced budget, but makes no budgetary allowance for increases in fuel costs, electricity costs, or tax increases, that government knows that the only way the District can possibly submit a balanced budget is by making cuts to our children’s education services.
When a government announces new schools, but does not actually provide capital funding or build them, resulting in the school district having to use millions of dollars from their operating budget to purchase, maintain, and service portable classrooms, that government knows that the only way the District can possibly submit a balanced budget is by making cuts to our children’s education services.
When a government knows that enrolment is declining, funds schools on a “per student” basis, and it costs virtually the same amount in fuel, electricity, and staffing to have 480 kids in a school vs 500 kids in a school, that government knows that the only way the District can possibly submit a balanced budget is by making cuts to our children’s education services.
When a government abruptly changes policy for funding of school seismic upgrading and announces that School Districts will have to pay for up to half the costs of putting our children in safe structures, that government knows that the only way the District can possibly submit a balanced budget is by making cuts to our children’s education services.

Your government would have us believe that teachers are demanding too high of a wage increase, and yet in the past dozen years teachers saw a 7.5% increase from their 2002 contract, a 0% increase from their 2005 contract, and a 16% increase from their 2006 contract. In those same dozen years, the benchmark price of real estate has increased 100-200% (depending on the region), BCHydro rates have increased by 40% (from an average of $70/mo to an average of $98/mo, after correction for inflation), gasoline prices have increased by 80-100% (from fluctuating around $0.70-0.80/L to fluctuating around $1.35-1.50/L), and the cost of feeding a family of 4 in BC has gone up 38.7% (from $626 to $868 per month). Clearly the increases in a teacher’s pay are not keeping up with the increases in the cost of living.

The BCPSEA and BCTF have failed to reach an agreement (which is hardly a surprise considering that Carole Taylor’s 2006 deal has been the only freely negotiated contract that the two sides have reached in the 27 years since Mr VanderZalm’s SoCreds gave teachers the right to strike) and so the teachers have escalated their action to a rotating strike. The lockout notice that the government has countered with is shocking and its logical underpinnings are convoluted, to say the least. While maintaining that children should not be put in the middle, the government has done exactly that by ensuring that teachers can not provide before- or after-school preparation or assistance to children. This does nothing BUT penalize the children, and once again lays bare the viciousness of this government’s intention to provoke action by the teachers for it’s own political gain - leaving our children as collateral damage along the way.

Your government claims that LNG industry development will “build a prosperous economic future for British Columbia”. I disagree. What will build a prosperous economic future for British Columbia is adequate funding for the education of our future generation. Provide us with education for all children, instead of having so many kids in a class that the teacher can’t properly assess and supervise everyone. Provide specialist teachers and education assistants for kids with special needs, so that they can learn and progress with their peers, rather than disengaging and becoming lost. Provide School Districts with budget increases to cover utility rate increases, so that our children won’t suffer because the District has to pay BC Hydro and Fortis an extra $625,000. Currently, between not negotiating in good faith, and not providing the School Districts with an adequate annual budget, you are failing us; you are failing our children.

A few weeks ago when the Coquitlam Board of Education was having its last few public meetings before finalizing what cuts to make, my children became aware that their library was in jeopardy. My seven-year-old summed it up with “Mum, you said that you pay taxes so that the government gives us hospitals and schools to help us learn, but how can we learn without books and a LIBRARY? The government doesn’t care about us; the government is an asshole” And while I chastised him for using an inappropriate word, I cannot disagree with his opinion or fail to marvel at how astutely a child can assess a complicated situation and distill it down to its core.

Kristina Lee, Coquitlam
Post Script:
I am not a teacher. I am not married to a teacher. My parents were not teachers. I have no direct financial interest in this dispute other than being a very, very annoyed parent.

Sources
Vancouver Sun
The Province
www.dieticians.ca
vreaa.wordpress.com
newsroomgov.bc.ca
business.financialpost.com
www.rbc.com
British Columbia’s Liquified Natural Gas Strategy One year update , gov.ca.ca
cbc.ca
sd43.bc.ca/budget

A typical classroom - Class Size & Composition DOES matter!

By Kwyn Denny Maxwell

Here is a my beautiful, energetic grade 4 classroom, if I gave it colours. This is a fairly typical class, some are harder, some are easier.

Yellow - my ESL students who receive 45 minute of extra support per week.

Blue - Students in my room who are at least 2 years behind in 1 or more subject ares. They receive no extra support.

Pink - students with challenging behaviours who disrupt the classroom regularly. They receive no extra support.

Orange - These are students who have been tested (or hopefully will be soon) and have a designated learning disability. They receive 1 hour a day extra support.

Green - These are my fully capable students who are meeting grade level and able to work fairly independently. They have stable home lives and are getting their basic needs met.

Red - These are my students who are facing hard things. Divorcing parents, deaths of close family members, poverty. These 'things' are impacting their learning.

This again is a fairly typical classroom these days. Please - class size and composition DO matter!!!! It is not all about getting a raise.

[Source]

Something to be bothered about with #BCed

I apologize if my outcry against the deterioration of public education bothers you but I think there are much larger issues to be bothered by with the way this Provincial government is treating public education!

I shared this as a facebook status, and I wanted to share it here as well:

Teachers fight for students everyday. Fight for smaller classes, more support, specialist teachers and a safe place to learn and grow. My union fights for me. Fights for improved salary, benefits and better working conditions. Don't get it confused... Teachers always 'do more with less' so just because we ask for a fair wage to catch up with teachers across Canada (many with lower cost of living) doesn't mean we are greedy. We care about your kids, but have families of our own too. Funding needs to go into education, for better working conditions for teachers, which is better learning conditions for kids. Thank-you to everyone who supports public education. We will keep fighting until this government makes it a priority!

As the struggle continues in British Columbia for public education to become a priority for the BC Liberal government, I find myself constantly having to defend my job, my union, and my students. For some reason, there is this divide... just because teachers want better working conditions including salary, benefits, prep time and smaller classes, they are somehow greedy and not passionate about teaching. Many somehow believe that improving things for teachers doesn't positively impact students.

I can't even count the number of times, in the past two weeks, I have been asked, "Why don't you choose a different career?" or "Well, why do you keep teaching then?" or "Have you thought about moving somewhere else to try teaching or moving to the private sector?" Like that is the answer?

I am a teacher because I care about education and kids... but that doesn't mean I don't also care about my own well being and my family's security. Like any person, in any job, there is a balance of wanting what is best for your clients, colleagues, business, whatever the case may be... as well as your own family and personal life too. I am passionate about education and that means I stick with it, through thick and thin, always trying to improve it for my students as learners and for myself and my colleagues as teachers.

About me...It has been a roller coaster ride... I graduated from university and was hired that summer to start in September as a Teacher-Teaching-On-Call [TTOC] in the district I still call home. After three years of slow work and struggling to make ends meet as a TTOC, I obtained my first part time temporary contract. It was outside my subject area, but I took it because contracts were hard to come by. After that, I had a temporary contract, of some sort, for a few months each year until, in year seven, I finally "rolled over" into a continuing part-time contract. This meant, although 'owed a job' I would be laid off each year until I obtained enough seniority to find a secure position, a classroom and school to call home.

Last year I was laid off and out of 480 or so teachers, I was right in the middle. I was recalled to a part-time job, outside my subject area, the day before school started, and on-call the rest of the days. This year, of our 632 teachers laid off, I am in the bottom 100. Because I am part time, many full time teachers have jumped ahead of me on the lay off and recall list. With a cut off point of 8 years and 4 months, many teachers who have not been laid of fin several years are laid off this year. I have only 2 years and 6 months seniority because much of my on-call teaching time is not included in calculation so I knew I would be laid off this year, however,  I didn't expect to be so low down the list. I don't expect to be recalled in September, if at all next year. This is one of many difficult cuts my district has had to make because of lack of funding from the Provincial government!

I don't mean to sound greedy, or selfish, [why do teachers always apologize when speaking out against injustices?] but as I enter my ninth year teaching, I wonder when I will escape this tumultuous procedure? Where else does nearly a decade of service lead to facing this much uncertainty? If I continued to work just my part-time, 2 day a week contract and the lay-off level stayed as it is this year forever, it would take me almost 15 MORE years to get above lay-off line.

Depressing as that is for me personally, it is not as depressing as losing all our teacher-librarians next year, among other major cuts. My district is not alone in facing these difficult decisions, across B.C. school boards are struggling to balance budgets as the provincial government continues to download costs. B.C. invests $1000 less per student compared to the national average which, if corrected, would resolve most of the cuts school districts are being forced to make. These cuts are devastating and will change public education forever. I fear, once cut, these positions, services and programs will never return and my daughter and her future children, will not be given the opportunities they deserve in school.

It isn't just about me and my family, although that is very important to me, it is about everyone's family and future. Although cliche, it is true, these kids are our future... the government talks about a 'strong economy' but is squashing our young future decision makers' opportunities. Our future nurses, teachers, plumbers, tradespeople, parents, bankers, doctors, cooks, lawyers.... losing important support in school.

It frustrates me that there is no money for classrooms, but our premiere can spend frivolously. It isn't about there being no money, it is about the allocation of money and the priorities this government has. Clearly education is not one of them.

It upsets me that we are bullied and bribed in the public instead of respected at the bargaining table. There is a fair deal to be made, but the media parade won't help us get there.

Teachers elsewhere in this country are negotiating and being recognized as important figures in children's lives. Why can't B.C. see the same? An investment in education now, will pay off in the future.

This isn't about being adversarial, this is about coming to the table... the government and the BCTF... and discussing, proposing, negotiating. Teachers working conditions are students learning conditions and both need to be protected.

Education is worth the investment. Quality education should not be reserved for the rich and elite. Everyone deserves the opportunity to learn and grow in a safe and nurturing environment.

So, I apologize if my outcry against the deterioration of public education bothers you, but I think it should bother you more that this government is treating teachers and students this way. Everyone has a right to quality education and as a teacher and a parent, I will keep fighting for public education and the educators who work hard every day to teach our children. I won't give up on their future and neither should you!

Sharing a great bog post: Within and without the union: prejudices about the BCTF

I recently came across a great blog post, Within and without the union: prejudices about the BCTF, from a teacher who previously worked in a Catholic school and was not a fan of unions. He starts his post with a goal to figure out why the BCTF is so disliked:

I guess that I belong to the most despised union in the province. I’m not whimpering. It’s just a fact. The BC Teachers Federation gets a lot of nasty press. And I try to understand why that might be. To do so, I have to cast my memory back to my pre-union days.

I taught in a Catholic independent school for 11 years. And there was no union. As you can probably guess, a couple of decades ago, some of the BCTF proclivities didn’t play well with Catholics. For one thing, there was the issue of support for LGBTQ realities that the Church would have preferred to deny, but there was more. The Church was terrified of unions.

He then shares his story about when his Catholic school staff tried to create a union after the firing of a teacher because she was divorced and planning to remarry. Next he lists some reasons he believes BCTF is disliked...and Finally he wraps up with this gem....

The tax argument, however, is spurious. The same level of vitriol is never issued when people buy gasoline or groceries. People don’t curse the multimillionaire bank CEO’s when they get ding’d a-buck-fifty at the ATM just for taking out their own money. (By the way, when bank machines first came out, they were free to use, and still people were reluctant, as we knew that the banks were saving huge money laying off tellers). But for some reason, they don’t want to pay tax dollars for a system of universal education that is run and delivered by professionals. They say that in today’s economy we can’t afford it, which is funny, because our modern economy generates more wealth than ever before in history, yet as a percentage of GDP we funded schools much better in the past.

I’ve come to look at the issue as one that I just have to live with. I have worked a few different jobs in my life, finally coming to teaching, and I can say that teaching is most definitely the hardest job I’ve ever done. It can be very rewarding at times – not lately though, considering how hard the government has been working to discredit us. (It really doesn’t feel good when your boss tries to goad you into a fight). But that ‘s a story for my previous blog post.

Please go enjoy the entire blog post. It is very well written and touches on a lot of important topics.

Read entire post here

#BCED cuts are not the only option - local teacher blog post

#BCED Cuts Are Not the Only Option: It Is Time for Trustees and Parents To Stand Together

This post by a local teacher is fabulous! I want to copy the whole thing, but instead, here are some highlights... I HIGHLY recommend you read the entire post here!

School boards across BC are releasing their proposed budgets this month, and overwhelmingly, school communities are grappling with shortfalls in the millions of dollars. Trustees are struggling with the prospect of gutting essential programs and services, and parents, students, and teachers are rallying to advocate for programs that have made a difference in their lives.

The cuts being proposed are drastic. In the words of one of my local trustees, “There is no more fat to cut, it is just bone now”. The Vancouver School board is considering eliminating their entire elementary band and strings program.

Over the coming month, parents, students, and teachers will write letters and attend local school board meetings to fight for the programs and services they care about. This is an important thing to do, and people need to make their voice heard to try to save what is important to them, however, we can’t stop at trying to save our program of choice for just one more year. We need to band together and go after the root of why our programs are at risk.

In all the conflict to come over what may be cut or what may be saved, there is one thing that trustees, teachers, and parents agree on with startling clarity; these proposed cuts are here because of the actions and policies of the provincial government.

The operating budget for #BCED has remained frozen for the third straight year as school districts grapple with price increases for basic costs such as hydro/power and MSP. Add the fact that inflation continues at 2% a year and you have significant and consistent cuts to school districts all over the province. As if that wasn’t enough, this year the provincial government has chosen to remove up to 50% of funding for future capital projects such as building repairs and seismic upgrades. What that actually means is that the province’s decision to cut the education budget in the province is literally putting the lives of students at risk by not funding earthquake repairs in an active earthquake zone. This is in addition to the lives put at risk through counseling and at risk youth programs cut through underfunding.

School boards have recognized the root of this problem for years. Last year the BC School Trustees Association voted unanimously to ask the provincial government to reopen the issue of school funding.

Many trustees are angry with the province for putting them in a position where they feel they are forced to be the instrument of gutting the essential and lifesaving services that students need so badly.

Boards feel bound to balanced budget legislation in the School Act, which states that any board that does not submit a balanced budget can be dismissed and replaced with a government appointed administrator.

The law itself is ludicrous; the fact that representatives elected by the people can be replaced with an unelected administrator goes against the very idea of our democracy.

Two years ago school board trustees in Cowichan recognized this and did what they felt was the moral thing to do. Instead of balancing their budget by doing things that would harm the students in their care, they submitted a needs budget to the provincial government, asking for what they needed to run their schools properly. Because Cowichan stood alone, the government was able to dismiss the board and hired an appointed administrator to slash the district’s budget.

School board trustees – you don’t need to be the instrument of harmful government cuts to what you care about so dearly. You can choose to be the leaders we need by joining together, submitting needs budgets to the province, and showing them with real action that they need to put money back to into public education. Now is the moment to do this. The cuts this year are so extreme that parents, students, and teachers are hungry for real solutions, and many of them want you to show the kind of moral courage that this action entails. If you banded together and the parents supported you, the government wouldn’t be able to dismiss you all, and you could make a real difference in the lives of the students in your care.

Parents, students and teachers – yes go to local school board meetings and fight for what you care about, but as you do, don’t just ask your school board to save your program for one more year. Ask your trustees to work together with their colleagues across the province to ensure that the programs and people you care about are here for years to come. They need to know that you support them in doing all that they can do to advocate for your kids and you need to advocate with them to by taking your message to the provincial government and demanding that they make students and schools a priority in this province again.

If we work together, we can change this for the better. It is time we started.

source

More on Christy Clark and the Liberals plan to pressure teachers into strike

Clark facing crisis after NDP revelations about talks with teachers
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/clark-facing-crisis-after-ndp-revelations-about-talks-with-teachers/article16845904/

Vaughn Palmer: Christy Clark’s profession of innocence cast into doubt:  
Government negotiator admits Liberals tried to pressure teachers into strike

http://www.vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/Vaughn+Palmer+Christy+Clark+profession+innocence+BCTF/9501382/story.html

Les Leyne: Snippets of testimony in teacher case are bad for Liberals
http://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/columnists/les-leyne-snippets-of-testimony-in-teacher-case-are-bad-for-liberals-1.847953#sthash.CZxZSpk8.gbpl

B.C. Liberals' lead negotiator admitted plan was to provoke a full-scale strike, keep children home from school
http://bcndpcaucus.ca/en/bc_liberals_lead_negotiator_admitted_plan_was_to_provoke_a_fullscale_strike_keep_children_home_from_school

Premier Christy Clark involved in BCTF strike strategy: NDP
The testimony from a top government official appears to contradict Education Minister Peter Fassbender and Premier Christy Clark

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/metro/government+negotiator+admits+Liberals+tried+pressure+teachers/9500416/story.html

NDP grills B.C. Liberals on teacher strategy

http://globalnews.ca/news/1146339/ndp-grills-b-c-liberals-on-teacher-strategy/